Andy Murray opens his Australian Open campaign against Roberto Bautista Agut

World number ones Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep were named top seeds today for next week's Australian Open, with 23-time major victor Serena Williams lurking at 16 on the women's side. "I needed to have an end point because I was sort of playing with no idea when the pain was going to stop", Murray said Friday.

Andy Murray said Friday he plans to retire and is targeting this year's Wimbledon as the final tournament of his career - if he can keep playing that long.

'I'm not feeling good, ' he said. "I've told my team I want to get to Wimbledon and stop but I'm not certain I can do that".

The draw for the first Grand Slam of the year took place on Thursday, as the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal learned what their potential paths to the trophy would look like.

"I always have tried to remind myself that this is a dream", Federer said of his longevity at the draw ceremony held at Margaret Court Arena, where he discovered the world number 99 would be his opening opponent. 'Obviously been struggling for a long time and been in a lot of pain for probably about 20 months now.

He insisted he would still try to play at the Australian Open but added "the pain is too much really". I'm also not certain I'm able to do that'. I'm not sure I'm able to play through the pain for another four or five months.

The three-time Grand Slam champion was driven to tears as he made the announcement to a room of journalists and revealed that the extent of his pain means he can not put socks on without struggling.

Murray, who has scheduled a news conference on Friday at Melbourne Park, admitted to still feeling pain in his hip before Brisbane.

Serena Williams, who won the Australian Open in 2017 while pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia, returns as the 16th-seeded player after missing last year's tournament.

Murray has slipped well down to No 230 in the world rankings and has been drawn to face 22nd seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round this coming Monday.

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